“I feel it in the air, the summer's out of reach” (credit Don Henley, Michael W. Campbell)

Autumn is upon us! It’s not the trees donning their coats of red and amber or the mist cloaking the river in the early morning that signifies the end of summer, but my need to wear gloves as I cycle to work. Until now I’ve resisted the need to dig them out of the bag where they’ve spent the summer, but yesterday, I simply couldn’t face the painful warming-up process that my chilled fingers endure after I arrive at the office. So, it was gloves on and a brain sing of Don Henley’s "Boys of Summer" along the riverside track

Calamitous events come in threes!

Last week, cycling by the river, I skidded and fell off my bike, landing inevitably on my right shoulder, which has only just repaired itself after I tore my rotator cuff in June.  Then I developed tonsils the size of melons and a sore throat so rough that I could have sand-papered a forest of trees. That caused us to miss a festive Ceilidh.  Finally, one of the unpredictable nerve pains that I developed after my shingles outbreak, returned to plague me in the dark hours of the other night.  So hopefully, that’s it.  No more incidents for a while!

Cycling in slush

We had a sleety snow storm this morning which made my daily cycle to work somewhat interesting. Sharing a dual cycle/footpath with pedestrians was a challenge in itself, as many of the leaves littering the pavements were frozen and covered in slush so they presented a treacherous surface for the unwary. Despite keeping to a low speed, I was unnerved to see people ahead of me, their ipods plugged into their ears, skittering about with little obvious awareness of what was going on around them. Thankfully, I made it to the office safely, without skidding or taking any one out!

Ready, Steady, Cycle!

Alone in Reading on a summer evening!  What should I do? Hire a Ready Bike of course!

The hire scheme is fairly new so I hadn’t heard of it before my recent visit but I spotted a stand of bikes on my way to the hotel which roused my curiosity.  A quick google and minutes later, I’d signed up for a day pass. The only downside was the lack of a helmet but as I was intending to stay off road and cycle along the Thames path, I risked it.  It was a splendid way to spend a summer evening

Is it a bird or an orange beetle?

Christine’s exploits on her freezing cycle ride yesterday became reality for me this morning when I set off for work looking like a rotund orange beetle.  The rain on top of the icy river path made my journey fairly treacherous and with my dodgy left toe protesting at being forced into cycling shoes, I was nervous about taking a tumble.  Needless to say, I didn’t have any inclination to admire the scenery through the glacial drizzle.  I concentrated hard so I made it through without any mishaps, although I experienced the terror of a rear wheel slide at one point! 

My colleagues took this in disbelief that I'd cycled through the icy drizzle with a broken toe

It's all double Dutch to me

Cycle camping round the Zuiderzee may not be everyones’s cup of tea but for Andy and me, our holiday plans are coming together splendidly.  The route has been examined in detail using maps, Google Earth and Street View, the Green Camping Guide is on order and numerous geocaches have been identified!!  Although we’ve visited Holland several times before, we’ve never been on our bicycles so it’ll be a different way of re-discovering the area.  At last, we’re keeping the promise we made to ourselves years ago and are returning on two wheels. Here’s hoping for a dry and windless September!

Dashing through the snow......

Although it’s a challenge in the snowy weather we’ve had recently, I have been pedalling to work as usual.  Because we’ve not had any partial thaws, the snow along the river path has remained “squeaky” and relatively easy to cycle on.  But, closer to town, the salt gritted areas on the shared pavement don’t feel as safe as ice forms once the temperature drops and the melt water re-freezes.  Pavement conditions were so bad under-wheel today that I decided to brave the road and negotiate the 3 lane roundabout.  Happily, I was only tooted at once by an impatient motorist!